A number of apparatuses have been employed to apply a thin bead of viscous sealing material to a surface. Particularly, many of these apparatuses are well-suited to apply a bead of joint compound or caulking compound to a joint or crack.
Once well-known method for filling a joint or crack with caulking compound employs a caulk delivery apparatus, or caulk gun, having an operating mechanism that controls the flow of caulking compound from the nozzle portion of a replaceable caulking compound container. However, when such an apparatus is used to apply caulking compound to an overhead surface, the caulking compound may fall away from the ceiling before it adheres to the joint or crack. Furthermore, normal methods of finishing caulk joints are time-consuming and cumbersome when the work area is overhead. Thus, such an apparatus is ill-suited for filling a gap or crack in a ceiling surface.
For this reason, joints or cracks in ceilings are typically finished or repaired by first applying joint tape to the crack and then blending the joint tape into the ceiling by applying joint compound using a putty knife to transfer the joint compound to the ceiling from a bucket or pan. Such an arrangement typically requires use of a ladder to allow the drywall installer to reach the portion of the ceiling being caulked. Thus, the drywall installer is limited to working on a small segment of the ceiling before the ladder must be moved, creating an undesirable inefficiency. Furthermore, when repairing an acoustic ceiling, sometimes referred to as a “popcorn ceiling,” the acoustic material must first be removed in the area of the joint or crack and subsequently replaced.
It would be desirable to have a caulk applicator that is attachable to a caulk delivery apparatus to apply a thin bead of caulking compound to a crack or joint in a ceiling. It would further be desirable to have a caulk applicator that may repair a crack or joint in an acoustic ceiling without removing the acoustic material.